Uco Valley’s Patricio Gouguenheim

Winemaker Patricio Gouguenheim is changing the face of Argentinian Malbec, creating still and sparkling rosé wines made from high-altitude sites in Tupungato

Once an investment banker, Patricio Gouguenheim did what many city workers can only dream of: he hung up his suit and tie and devoted his life to wine.

Born in Argentina to French parents, Gouguenheim says wine was an ever-present part of family life; as a child he drank a little wine mixed with sparkling water at dinner.

But it wasn’t until he found his dream winery in Tupungato, nestled in the north of Uco Valley, that Gouguenheim decided to abandon a successful career in finance to become a wine producer.

After founding his winery in 2002 , Gouguenheim set to work making classic wines from the grape that put Argentina on the world wine map, Malbec.

However in recent years, Gouguenheim has been experimenting with new expressions of Argentina’s signature grape, creating still and sparkling Malbec rosé wines from high-altitude vineyards.

La vie en rosé

‘Uco Valley — and especially Tupungato – is the perfect place to make rosé due to our climate,’ explains Gouguenheim.

‘We are in the foothills of the Andes Mountains, at the highest point in the Uco Valley, with some vineyards reaching more than 1,000 metres above sea level.’

Gouguenheim also employs a drip irrigation system, using snowmelt water from Andes, which helps to counter the desert-like conditions. His vines experience a large diurnal temperature range (often over 16°C) and more than 280 days of sun per year.

‘Climate and geography come together to provide excellent fruit ripening and flavour concentration, developing wines that are deep in colour, intensely aromatic and rich in flavours,’ says Gouguenheim.

‘Malbec makes our rosé special, it represents Argentina as we are — a mixture of cultures and ideologies. Malbec is the best grape because of its versatility; it brings vibrant fruit, smooth tannins and balanced acidity. All this combined makes the perfect rosé.’

Gouguenheim’s Malbec rosé collection includes two still wines, characterised by the winemaker as Mr Dry and Mrs Sweet. These are mirrored by his two sparkling Malbec rosés; one extra brut and one sweeter, lower-alcohol style.

Sparkling success

As a winemaker Gouguenheim is a restless innovator, and in 2014 he decided to create Argentina’s first 100% Malbec sparkling wine, ‘Malbec Bubbles Rosé Extra Brut’.

‘Structurally, sparkling Malbec has some similarities with Prosecco,’ says Gouguenheim, who employs the Charmat method to make a ‘clean, fresh sparkling that is fruit-forward with good acidity’.

Decanter’s South American wine expert, Alejandro Iglesias, agreed. In a recent tasting he rated Malbec Bubbles 91/100 points, citing the wine as ‘one of the pioneers’ of Argentina’s sparkling wines.

Following the success of his first sparkling Malbec rosé, Gouguenheim produced a second, lower-alcohol style of wine. ‘Malbec Sweet Nature’ has just 7.2% abv and incorporates natural sugars and cold fermentation in stainless steel tanks to make a lighter, sweeter style.